Bloody Mary is the second ‘Urban Legends’ coin, and Noah’s Ark wraps up Top World Coins ‘Bible Stories’ series
Top World Coins have released two new coins today, one the continuation of a series that debuted with an awesome killer clown coin back in January. The other is the final release in their Bible Stories range of two-ounce, high-relief silver coins, the sixth in an impressive series.
URBAN LEGENDS: 2026 BLOODY MARY
Perhaps originated in the medieval period with England’s Queen Mary I, Bloody Mary is said to be a spirit that inhabits a mirror. She can be summoned by saying her name into the mirror, usually three times. I’m not sure why anybody would want to do that, given she tends to disfigure, kill, or trap within the mirror the summoner. There’s always an idiot around, I guess…
The link to Queen Mary is tenuous, although she was called that due to her predilection for throwing Protestants on a bonfire, and the apparition has also been linked to a Mary Worth, a possibly accused witch. There’s even a related Japanese myth called Hanako-san, although that one is considerably more modern. Whatever the inspiration for it, this is not a happy woman.
The coin design plays up the mirror aspect, by having the ghostly candle-carrying woman depicted inside an ornate frame. Like the clown coin, there’s a terrific application of colour, full of finely graduated colour, and suitably spooky. There also seems to be more relief than the predominantly coloured clown coin. A superb rendition, in my view.
The common obverse returns, filled with suitably mysterious creatures from legend, although more popularly known ones. I’d rather they stayed on this current path, which is far more original, but we shall have to wait and see, as the series has yet to disappoint. The coin is nicely boxed, with a COA, and has a mintage cap of 1,000 units.
BIBLE STORIES: 2025 NOAH’S ARK
One of the more fantastical stories in the Bible, but ironically, one that has some seed of truth to it, is that of Noah’s Ark. The story of a great flood is ancient, and was ancient when the first Abrahamic texts were written. The story can be traced back to Sumerian times, where even then, it was likely an ancient one, kept alive by oral tradition.
It’s little known by many, but during the last ice age, sea-level was considerably lower than it is today, and I mean considerably. How does 120 metres (400ft) sound! Much of the Mediterranean was land, and that vast area now under the North Sea, called Doggerland, was also dry, connecting Great Britain with continental Europe and Scandinavia. This was due to a huge volume of water being locked up in the ice sheets, and when it started melting around 10,000 years ago, the sea level rose dramatically, and rapidly. That’s the birthplace of the great flood stories, and they’ve been continually reintegrated by various religions ever since, including Noah’s Ark. It’s all a fascinating example of myth born of fact.
The coin does, as you’d expect, stick firmly to the Biblical legend, and depicts the ark, on a hill, unloading its cargo of pairs of animals. Behind the ark is a stylised sun, and the dove flies over the scene, rounding out a nice encapsulation of the story. There’s plenty of high-relief, and the series common obverse, an intricate design, returns. A fitting end to a fine religious series of coins.
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